Dr Sudeshna Chandra (NMIMS University, India) designed this month’s outside cover. It illustrates an article in which the authors propose a novel electrochemical immunosensor, based on a redox-active ferrocenyl dendrimer on a glassy carbon electrode, for the detection of cancer biomarkers.

The inside cover is proposed by Dr Raz Jelinek (Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Israel). According to Dr Jelinek and his co-workers, the analysis of artworks and identification of their molecular components is very important to choose proper conservation strategies and monitor their restoration. In their study the authors present an application of spin-coated polydiacetylene films for in situ colorimetric sensing of a selection of organic materials present in paintings. Their study shows that the polydiacetylene technology might open new analytical avenues in molecular analysis, in general, and more specifically for painting restoration and conversation science.

Also read the short Focus review by Dr Martín Labarca (Universidad de Buenos Aires, Argentina). Dr Labarca addresses the problem of the status of the element of atomic number zero or “neutronium”. According to him, it is more cautious from both a scientific and a philosophical standpoint, to think of the neutron just as a structural component of an element.

The October outside cover is proposed by Prof. Timothy P. Hanusa (Vanderbilt University, USA). In this article, the authors report a series of heavy alkaline-earth iodide coordination compounds containing various neutral donor ligands: phosphine oxides, ureas and the nitrobenzene dimer. These donors were chosen for their range of basicity and steric demand, to determine how well they could compete with the iodide ligand. The observed reactivity patterns suggest that ureas deserve more widespread use in group 2 chemistry, as they have a basicity that exceeds that of phosphine oxides, are available with a variety of substituents, and are inexpensive.

New Journal of Chemistry presents the collection of Letters and Articles of the September issue.

This month, the outside cover is proposed by Dr Jinbao Guo (Beijing University of Chemical Technology, China). In their work, the authors develop a facile bilayered structural device composed of a silver nanoparticle array with a liquid crystal elastomer. The device is elastic and changes color by sensing deformations induced by changing temperature, attributed to alignment of the liquid crystal molecules induced by the nanoparticle array. This actuator design could be a promising candidate for smart environmental-responsive devices such as thermal-camouflage skin and color-changing actuators.

Miss Maruša Mazej designed the inside cover to illustrate a study by Dr Zoran Mazej and his colleague Dr Goreshnik (Jožef Stefan Institute, Slovenia). Based on a short communication published in 1976 presenting three compounds described as XeF6·TiF4, 4XeF6·TiF4 and XeF6·2TiF4, and on the synthesis of [XeF5]3[Ti4F19] (i.e. 3XeF6·4TiF4) published in 2009, the authors reveal in this study the crystal structures of these 3 compounds, which can be formulated as XeF5TiF5, [XeF5]5[Ti10F45] and [XeF5][Ti3F13]. [XeF5]5[Ti10F45] contains the largest known discrete decameric [Ti10F45]5− anion built from ten TiF6 octahedra that share vertices and that are arranged in a double-star shape.

In celebration of Peer Review Week, with the theme of Recognition for Review – we would like to highlight the top 10 reviewers for New Journal of Chemistry in 2016, as selected by the editor for their significant contribution to the journal.

Name

Institution

Dr Jiaguo Yu

Wuhan University of Technology

Dr Qiongyou Wu

Central China Normal University

Professor Stephen Hashmi

Universität Heidelberg

Dr Yi Xia

Chongqing University

Professor Feihe Huang

Zhejiang University

Professor Antonio Frontera

Universitat de les Illes Balears

Professor Toshiaki Murai

Gifu University

Professor Jonathan Lindsey

North Carolina State University

Dr Jean Lessard

Sherbrooke University

Dr Adrian Ruff

Ruhr-Uni-Bochum

We would like to say a massive thank you to these reviewers as well as the New Journal of Chemistry board and all of the research community for their continued support of the journal, as authors, reviewers and readers.

At the 6th International Conference on Metals and Genetics, these three young Indian scientists were honored for their outstanding work.

Three young scientists were recognized for their contributions at the 6th International Conference on Metals and Genetics, which took place earlier this year at the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore.

The winners (in no particular order) of the NJC Poster Prizes awarded at this conference were:

Mr Vadde Ramu, National Chemical Laboratory, Pune
Poster title: New imaging reagents for lipid dense regions in live cells and the nucleus in fixed MCF-7 cells

The presented work is part of Vadde’s Ph.D. thesis, carried out under the supervision of Dr. Amitava Das. Vadde will be defending his thesis work this month and is moving to Jena for a post-doctoral position in October.

The presented research work demonstrated the design and synthesis of two new uracil (U) and 5-flurouracil (5-FU) labelled ruthenium(II)-polypyridyl based cellular imaging reagents. These two complexes were found to show affinity towards DNA in the nucleus of the PFA fixed cells. A large Stokes shift (λ = 160 nm) and an appreciably long-lived 3MLCT excited state (λ = 320 ns) in aq. buffer medium (pH 7.4) are other key features of these complexes. Unlike the common nuclear DNA staining reagents like DAPI, these low-cytotoxic reagents are found to be highly stable towards photo-bleaching upon irradiation with λ > 455 nm at the MLCT band for these complexes.

Samsuzzoha is a Ph.D. student working in the group of Dr. Ankona Datta. He is in his final year and expects to defend his degree in mid-2017.

His present research is about developing fluorescent probes for imaging the crucial phospholipids involved in cell signaling processes. Currently available genetically encoded fluorescent probes lack ‘on-off’ sensing and have problems with background signal. Hence tracking the spatio-temporal dynamics of phospholipids in a live cellular process with those fluorescent proteins is challenging. The authors are addressing this issue by developing novel fluorescent probes with ‘turn on’ or ‘ratiometric’ fluorescence sensing. The poster presents a ‘lanthano’-protein based ‘turn on’ sensor for phosphatidylserine, a phospholipid involved in cell-death signals mediation and several other signaling processes. Additionally, a recently developed, cell permeable, ratiometric sensor for phosphoinositides, the most important signaling phospholipids in the cellular system, is demonstrated.

Tandrila did the work presented in the poster as a 5th year BS-MS student under the direction of Prof. Govindasamy Mugesh. She is now a 1st year student in the Tri-Institutional Ph.D. program in chemical biology offered by Weill Cornell Medicine, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and The Rockefeller University (all located in New York City).

The study of phosphotriesterase (PTE) enzymes and synthesis of its structural and functional mimics has been a long time interest of the lab. PTE enzymes degrade organophosphorus nerve agents, which are known to inhibit acetylcholine esterase, thus resulting in paralysis, respiratory failure, etc. For her Master’s thesis, Tandrila worked on developing a nano-mimic of PTE enzyme. The poster work showed that vacancy engineered nanoceria (CeO2) with Ce in both +3 and +4 oxidation states very efficiently act as a catalyst to hydrolyze organophosphorus nerve agents like paraoxon, parathion, etc.

(The photo shows Tandrila on the left with co-author Dr Amit Vernekar, currently a post-doc in the Lippard group at MIT.)

Congratulations to the 3 laureates, and best wishes for continuing success in their research and careers.

The New Journal of Chemistry team is glad to present the last summer issue. A warm thank to all of our authors for their work!

Lukáš Smolko in the group of Prof. Juraj Černák (P. J Šafárik University in Košice, Slovakia) designed this month’s outside cover. In their article, the five authors report on a novel series of tetracoordinate Co(II) complexes— [Co(bcp)X2] (bcp = bathocuproine; X = Cl, Br, I)—which all possess moderate magnetic anisotropy. They show that although the structures of the complexes are very similar, slight differences in the crystal packing lead to significantly different magnetic behaviour.

The inside cover is proposed by Dr Luke Henderson (Deakin University, Australia) to illustrate a study in which the authors examine the toxicity of a new class of ionic liquids. These are equimolar solutions of lithium bistrifluoromethylsulfonimide in triglyme (G3TFSA) or tetraglyme (G4TFSA), with potential applications in a variety of areas such as energy storage in lithium batteries and as alternatives to traditional organic solvents. The authors demonstrate the lack of toxicity of these two solvate ionic liquids by three different complementary methods and conclude that G3TFSA and G4TFSA can be used as a replacement for DMSO for experimental research both in vitro and in vivo.

New Journal of Chemistry presents the July issue, a part-themed one devoted to Nitrogen Chemistry.

This month’s issue includes a themed collection put together by guest editors Claude Gros and Franck Denat (Université Bourgogne Franche-Comté, France). It reports recent advances in the chemistry of Nitrogen Ligands, including organic, coordination, metal-organic and bioinorganic chemistry, and also materials science and catalysis. This themed issue follows the 6th EuCheMS Conference on Nitrogen Ligands held in Beaune in September 2015. The Editors and the NJC team are very grateful to all the authors (representing 13 countries) and reviewers of the 39 contributions to this themed issue.

We would like to thank Dr David Monchaud (Université Bourgogne Franche-Comté, France) for designing the outside cover. It illustrates an article reporting a palladated porphyrin named Pd·TEGPy. The authors show that its efficiency as a quadruplex-selective fluorescent dye relies on a structural design that endows it with attractive supramolecular and electronic properties and makes it an efficient turn-on, fluorescent stain thanks to a DNA-mediated sensitization mechanism that ensures a high level of specificity.

The inside cover is proposed by Dr Hai-Rong Zhang (Guangxi Normal University, China) to illustrate a paper showing the authors’ interest in finding novel non-platinum metal-based complexes with maximal beneficial antitumor properties and minimal side effects. In their study, Dr Zhang and his colleagues synthesize and structurally characterize two rhodium(III) complexes of 8-hydroxyquinoline (HOQ) and its derivative 5-bromo-8-hydroxyquinoline (HBrQ). They also screen the in vitro cytotoxicity against a series of human cancer cell lines and study the DNA binding properties of the best cytotoxic complex.

New Journal of Chemistry is pleased to share its authors’ work appearing in the June 2016 issue!

Prof. Noritaka Mizuno (The University of Tokyo, Japan) designed this month’s outside cover. It illustrates an NJC Letter in which Prof. Mizuno and his colleagues present for the first time the efficient catalytic desulfurization-oxygenation of secondary and tertiary thioamides into amides using O2 as the terminal oxidant and water as the oxygen source. Their results show that various kinds of structurally diverse thioamides could be applied to this catalytic system. They use phosphovanadomolybdic acids, possessing both acidic and oxidation properties, the key to realizing this transformation as the efficient catalytic one.

This month’s issue also features a Perspective review by Dr Radovan Šebesta (Comenius University in Bratislava, Slovakia) and his two co-workers, which focuses on a methodology affording diversely substituted chiral carbonyl compounds. Enamines, formed from the corresponding carbonyl compounds and appropriate chiral amine catalysts, can be oxidized to radical cation species. These radical cations can be intercepted by a range of SOMO-philic reagents, such as alkenes, arenes and some heteroatom-based reagents. They show that asymmetric singly occupied molecular orbital (SOMO) catalysis is a useful tool for enantioselective allylic alkylation, enolation, arylation, carbo-oxidation, vinylation, alkynylation, or intermolecular alkylation of carbonyl compounds, predominantly aldehydes. This new bond-forming methodology can find application in the construction of both natural products as well as medicinal agents.

This collection of 12 Reviews, 2 Letters and 39 research Papers expresses the materials community’s deep appreciation and conveys thanks to Dr François Fajula for his outstanding contributions to the fields of zeolites and ordered porous materials, and for his hard wok on behalf of the materials community. Additional contributions to this themed collection that are not published in the May issue can be found here as they are added.

NJC would also like to thank Alexander Yakimov and the Guest Editors for the design of the outside cover which illustrates this themed issue.